Embracing Mortality

Happenings Article - 2/14/2024

Greetings Holy Apostles Family,

On this day when we celebrate love, give out chocolates, and recall an arrow-firing cherub, I have a loving message for you: “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” Think I’m crazy? Keep reading!

 

Clergy around the world offer the words above, as they apply the grey remains of palm branches on people’s foreheads. They make the sign of the cross with those ashes in the same place where we are marked as Christ’s own forever in Holy Baptism. As hard as the truth of our transience is to accept, this day is an occasion when we in the Church give it our best shot. 

 

On Ash Wednesday, we hear the truth of our dusty frailty; however, this certainty—that none of us get out of this life alive—flies in the face of so much of the culture around us. Companies in our world love to promote and pedal anything and everything to prevent aging and to avoid death. From workout systems to magic creams to miracle pills advertising agencies pitch us on the idea that if we just fork over some of our precious dollars, we can lengthen our days. With all this death-avoidance in our cultural drinking water, it is no wonder that we buck against our human nature with all our might. Ash Wednesday offers an antidote and another perspective—simply put this service makes us confront that we come from dust, and we return to dust. 

 

We may buck against this emphasis of Ash Wednesday because of culture or even because of instinct. However, embracing mortality allows for us to live into our vocation as human beings. We are not God. We are not infinite. We will not live in these mortal bodies forever. And yet, at the very same time, God made us. God is infinite—and loves us infinitely. God invites us into eternal life, which has already started! Knowing this, we are free to be ourselves—creatures formed from the dust, molded into the likeness of God, and purposed to give God glory by serving our neighbor as ourselves.

 

Today, therefore, I invite you to rest in the good news that you are indeed finite, and not God. You do not have control over all things. You will not live forever. And, while you are mortal flesh and to dust you shall return, you are made good in God’s image, made to worship an infinite God, and made to share God’s eternal love with all whom you meet. 

 

God’s peace be with you,

Seth

 

 

Finding Your Place

On a balmy morning in early June of 2012 near Richmond, Virginia I met a strange woman. She stuck out her hand to greet me, but instead of saying her name she said, "Hello. I'm a foot. What are you?" We were at Roslyn Center, a beautiful place of retreat, at a preaching program for seminarians from across the Episcopal Church, and this loon just so happened to be in my group. At first, her presence was off putting. Who wants to develop new methods of sharing God's Good News with someone who introduces herself as a foot? However, the theme for the event was Preaching Paul, and she had immersed herself in the image of the Body of Christ. Then, oddly enough by the end of the week our entire small group was claiming our individual identities as parts that work together in Christ's living Body.

Sometimes I still wonder, what is my place? What member of the body am I? Am I something important like a hand, or am I something superfluous like an appendix? Could I be something grand like an eye, or am I just an eyelash? Nose, or nose hair? One of the most difficult things any of us ever attempt to do is to find our place within this world. Almost everyone wonders where he fits into the human family. And, every Christian at some point in her life journey wants to know what members she constitutes within the Body of Christ; however, if it is such a crucial and universal task to find one's place in the body how is it possible that so many people continue to wonder, "Where's my place?" Saint Paul's image of the body still gives us an individual and a collective hope of fitting into something bigger, but how do we do this? Perhaps, right now is the perfect time to continue your exploration of how it is that you personally live as part of the whole.

Every part of our year at St. John's provides a different rhythm. Fall gives order with new offerings fitting into the routine of the school year (and football season). Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany provide crescendo like build up to God's Incarnation. Lent provides for greater discipleship in preparation for the joys of Easter. Then, as the school year ends we celebrate the accomplishments of those making transitions. After all of this summer can feel like a "throw away" season when the members are spread out across not just the state but the globe. We may feel that we are not on the same page, which means this is the perfect period to develop your own spirituality. "But how?" you say. I am so happy you asked.

Pick up a book. May I recommend Jabbok by Bishop Kee Sloan? Evan's Monday morning class will begin covering that on July 25th. Come to the Sunday morning articles class. If you have ever wondered how your Faith intersects with culture and society, this class in which we discuss current news topics through the lens of our discipleship can provide clarity. Go on a retreat. St. Mary's Sewanee offers fantastic times of restoration and discernment just an hour and a half from Decatur. If you are interested in another way of seeing how you fit into the Body of Christ try the Enneagram Conference up at Camp Kanuga in October. St. John's is also planning a parents retreat to Gulf Shores this fall, so retreat opportunities abound. Try praying differently. Have you always read the Forward Day-By-Day, but you do not like the style of the current contributors? Read Morning Prayer instead or Richard Rohr's daily meditations. Serve and give. Still not sure how you fit into the Body of Christ? Try a new volunteering opportunity at the CCC clothing closet, stop by PACT to see if they need some help at their front desk, or pack a bag of non-perishable food items that you can offer to someone who is in need. Give financially to the work of God in this world by contributing to a ministry that is meeting a cause close to your heart. Ways to find your place are as numerous as members in the body!

Although I still wonder which part I am in the Body of Christ something tells me that I will always be pondering my place. As much as the ambiguity unsettles me, this not knowing gives me and us an opportunity. In each stage of life God gifts us the challenge of wondering again who we are, what our gifts are, and what our place in this world is. In response we get to trust in God and have faith, just as God is Faithful. Trying some new discipline this summer allows us to wonder in this season and beyond about who we are. As you make new discoveries in your discernment share these insights with me and with others for the eye cannot say to the ear I do not need you, and individual discernment enhances our collective ministry. Saint Paul still reminds us that we are One Body for we all partake in the one bread and we all are made to share the same cup. As you find your place in this body do not be afraid to share who you are, even if you may be a foot!

The Church of the Future

IT’S SUMMERTIME!!! Okay, so summer technically is not here until June 21st, it already feels in full swing with camp sessions, beach trips, and warmer temperatures. In the life of our church, this season always deceives me. I continue to think that as the rhythm of the school year slows down, I can take a deep breath and float through the summer months. Surprisingly though, the life of St. John’s Church does not go into hibernation during these hot months, but instead not only do we continue our normal pattern of worship, we also catch a glimpse of the Church of the future at work.

Have you ever noticed that people in the Church love to worry about the future of the Church? I have yet to go to a clergy gathering without someone mentioning how to get younger people in the pews. When I scour trendy priest-blogs—yes, these exist—so many of them point to dire Pew Research Center results about how many members the Church has lost recently, and then mention how we might avoid our doomed fate to disintegrate into nonexistence. Even in our own parish hall, sacristy, and library we worry over what will become of the Church of the future. And yet, if we only focus upon the future, attracting a certain subset of people, and keeping our numbers up, we are being the Church (the Living Body of Christ) all wrong.

During my first clergy conference—when the clergy people of the Diocese of Alabama gather for renewal, fun, and a little bit of worrying—I was participating in some serious fellowship exercises playing poker with Bishop Kee and some wise clergy. In the midst of this light-hearted moment, Kee subtly used this opportunity to teach those gathered a lesson, and not just one about playing cards. He asked me how I was enjoying being a young priest. I gave him a polished response fit for a seminary textbook. Instead of telling me that I did not need to put on airs for him, the Bishop while dealing out the cards told me a story.

When Kee was a young priest in the Diocese of Mississippi he loved and revered his bishop, and the more-experienced clergy of that era. The Episcopal Church in Mississippi and its diocesan camp had been the place where Kee was loved into that person who was called to serve as a priest in the Church. And while he respected the stalwarts of the Faith that had guided him, he also knew that they were human beings. They made mistakes, just like the generation before them. They struggled with change, just like the generations before them. They had great triumphs, just like the generation before them.

At the end of saying all this Kee leaned over to me and said, “I am getting to a time when I am part of that older generation, and when I was your age, I always wished that my elders had invited me into building the Church that was to come. This is your invitation to keep building the Church. And, if I ever get in the way of God’s work being done just pull on my arm and tell me to get out of the way.” I was speechless. I don’t remember saying anything else the rest of the night, even when I was the big winner taking $12 off the old priests and the bishop—a considerable amount of money given the buy-in. What I learned in that moment is that if the bishop is willing to be told to get out of the way, I must be willing to do that too.

Last week, I spent time with our youth on the EYC Work Week. Next week, St. John’s will be transformed into the land of Egypt as we put on our Vacation Bible School. In addition to these local moments of the Church of the future already being here, young people from all over our diocese will be a part of Camp McDowell, Foothills Day Camp, Sawyerville Day Camp, Special Session, Young People Paint Birmingham, and so much more this summer. I do not anticipate a time when I will need to pull the Bishop aside to tell him that he is in the way of God’s work being done; however, I do think we would all be wise to see that the Church of the future is actually the Church of right now!

Our other bishop, Bishop Santosh, when he visited with us on Sunday morning, described the beauty of the Church in how we take care of one another. We constantly reach across generations in this Church. Each cohort has something to contribute, but to be the fullest, richest, and healthiest Body we can be we must make room for all generations right now, not just down the line when they have proven themselves. There is no Church of the future, it will always be the Church right now, so how will we right now welcome all generations to God’s Table in God’s Church?

God's Multiplication

From left to right: Dean Cynthia Kittredge, Clay Towles, Seth Olson (me), James Franklin, Jared Houze, Michael Carriccino, CJ Meaders, and Jeremiah Griffin

Yesterday I had the distinct pleasure of substituting for one of the regulars at our Banks-Caddell Homework Helpers program. If you have not had an opportunity to volunteer in that ministry, I highly recommend it. For most of the hour and a half I worked with four boys who were doing their math homework.

I quickly remembered some aspects of elementary mathematics. My multiplication table easily popped back into my mind (thank you Mrs. Albritton), but I struggled to distinguish between the distributive property and the communicative property. Do not even ask me what chunking is, for I still do not understand that demonic art! Yet what struck me more than my inability to remember mathematics was the spirit of the boys with whom I worked.

They were chipper and happy with just a pinch of rebelliousness. As I worked through their math worksheets with them I could see through some of their mischief, as one child in particular attempted to trick me into doing all of his work for him. After I convinced him that he should do his own work we worked together on a question asking another way of writing 8x5. The answer was clearly 5+5+5+5+5+5+5+5, but when I asked how he would write out 8x5 the boy answered, “50,000! NO! 50 thousand, hundred!” Maybe he was happy to get his homework completed, or perhaps it was working with friends, or even it might have been an adult sitting with him, but this child’s shear positivity overcame both his horrendous math skills and his inability to choose one of the four choices on the page. While I corrected him, I could not help but feel that his positive energy was hinting at a larger truth about God.

Sometimes in our world we can believe that the answer to our problems is one of four multiple choice answers. We might believe that we only have a few possible solutions to our challenges:

A. Make more money
B. Buy more things
C. Go it alone
D. Ignore the problem altogether

Yet, what this child of God reminded me is that God’s ability to multiply our time, talent, and treasure, our gifts, our prayers, and our lives themselves cannot easily be understood. 5x8 might as well be 50 thousand, hundred when God is at work! However, life soon challenged my new understanding of God’s greatness.

When I arrived home last night I discovered that Clay Towles, one of my best friends from seminary, had tragically died. The good feelings from Banks-Caddell melted away and I began struggling with all of the questions swirling around in my mind: Why did this happen? What could I have done to prevent his death? How could the church let one of its leaders suffer all alone? Why did Clay not reach out to others?

I fought hard all night with these questions desperately and irrationally hoping that by answering them Clay would return. He sadly will not. Instead I am left in a numb, heartbroken, and enraged mess. Somewhere buried in the tomb alongside our Savior Jesus Christ rests every bit of my grief, guilt, pain, fear, doubt, shame, anger, and confusion in the face of Clay’s death. Clay too is buried within that tomb.I do not know when or how or where it will happen, but Christ will raise all that is buried with him. One day the tomb, Clay’s tomb, will be empty. One day all those who believe will be resurrected to new life. One day all that we give over to God will be transformed in the mystery of God’s love. This is how God multiplies our lives: the pain of the Cross and death is transformed into the joy of the Resurrection.

I Mustache You A Question

Standing outside of church Sunday morning I expected a few comments, but I thought they would be about my sermon. In my time here as curate, I have looked forward to hearing comments about my preaching, as people walk out the red doors and into the world. Often the feedback I receive allows me to adapt my sermons, so that I might better interpret the Word of God with all of you in mind. However, this Sunday many comments were not about my sermon at all, and instead, almost everyone asked about a patch of hair that is growing above my upper lip.

When some eyes drifted down to stare at my newly growing mustache, I wanted to say, “Excuse me, but my eyes are up here.” Perhaps it was because some could not believe it was real, maybe it was a result of seeing Evan so cleanly shaven, or it could have been the thought, “Who wears a ‘stache these days?” Whatever the reason, I could tell that after church there was a fascination with my newly sprouted “soup strainer.” Of course, this is not my first facial hair rodeo, and I have been waiting for when some would say, “I mustache you a question… about your mustache,” and I enjoy the question, “What is that growing on your face?”

I affectionately know the eleventh month of the year as Movember (Mustache + November = Movember). Yet, why grow a mustache for the month of November? Well, each October all sorts of organizations, sports teams, and individuals sport the color pink in support of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month; however, many may not realize that November is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Instead of sporting a certain color, many men (including me) don some “handlebars,” “the walrus,” or “the dali” to raise awareness for men’s health issues. This is precisely why I have grown a ‘stache the last few years throughout the month of November. Well, that and because they look so awesome!

Many men have difficulty opening up and admitting when they are sick, in pain, or suffering. The culture around us often pushes men to believe that they always must be strong, that any form of sickness can be overcome by determination, and that to be vulnerable is to be weak. I would argue that in Jesus we have the opposite example. God become human in the person of Jesus. While Christ Jesus was both fully human and fully divine, God emptied himself upon the cross. To me the crucifixion shows that there is no weakness in vulnerability rather that is pure strength!

Maybe it is a little bold to equate opening up, being vulnerable, and going to the doctor with the example of Jesus. Yet, this month I urge everyone, both women and men, to take steps towards living an open, a vulnerable, and a healthy life. There is no weakness in being like Jesus, and of course, he had a mustache. If you feel like supporting prostate cancer research and the Movember movement, check out my webpage:  http://us.movember.com/mospace/3708981